Yea, sadly Skyrim is my first TES game so my knowledge of the lore is extremely flaky at best. I just picked up bits and pieces from the in-game books and from reading the forums and occasionally uesp.net (which doesn't have much race-specific lore). I'm having a really hard time getting into character because the interplay between the different races is quite complex and full of history, so often I don't know how my character should behave. Of course, I could just play a Nord and most of my troubles would be gone, but I happen to find them a bit dull.

For instance, I really wanted to play an arcane archer, a sort of elite soldier, and I thought I'd make him a Breton because of their elven ancestry and magical aptitude. But I have no idea why he'd want to journey to Skyrim, and once there, if he'd be sympathetic to the Imperial or the Stormcloak causes. What should be his disposition towards the common Nord?

Should I buy Morrowind and Oblivion to learn more?

You don't really learn any racial lore in morrowind or oblivion either and the things you do learn are over 200 years old, the situation has changed quite a lot.

Look up the imperial library.

Books help a lot. All you need to know is the Thalmor is your friend and I will be recommending you to one of their helpful re-education camps in the near future. Here is a brochure.

You don't need to know any lore to Roleplay.

Most people in Nirn don't know most of the lore. I mean, I know I don't know ancient Japanese lore, for example. Heck, I hardly know any English lore. just roleplay your character to his personality, not to the way the world was over 200 years ago. I know the crusades, for example, doesn't affect how I live my life now. All you need to know is racial personalities. Quickly scouring over UESP's entires for the races will be more than enough. Even then, you don't need to follow TES's definitions. If you really want, you could roleplay a Warcraft type Orc. If you really wanted to.

Just got to use your imagination as to why you ended up there, went out for milk and got mistaken for argonian skooma dealer. Imperials and their lists!

Pretend you have amnesia, and are trying to figure out what's going on around you. You don't even know anything about who you are.

I've always thought of Bretons as clever and somewhat opportunistic (e.g., Belethor). As it states in the http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Breton:

"They are united in culture and language even though they are divided politically, for High Rock is a factious region. Bretons make up the peasantry, soldiery, and magical elite of the feudal kingdoms that compete for power. Many are capable mages with innate resistance to magicka. They are known for a proficiency in abstract thinking and unique customs."

So, a Breton going to Skyrim might be a way to escape one factious region only to unexpectedly find that Skyrim is itself factious after the king's death. Or, it might be that the Breton sees Skyrim as an opportunity to make some coin or make a name for himself amidst this upheaval.

Or my personal favourite if you do decide to try a nord - you are the real ulfric stormcloak, and the other dude is your stooge. No-one knows but a select few

WHAT? [censored] the Thalmor!

Skyrim is my frst TES game aswell but I took the time to learn the lore from UESP and Imperial Library before the game came out. I must say it helps a lot with the immersion and I strongly recommend you do the same.

One source that may help you to get a better grasp of the provinces and their people would be http://www.imperial-library.info/content/pocket-guide-empire.

As for your specific character concept: How about having your character be a former Legionnaire who got too disenchanted with watching the Empire bow to the Aldmeri Dominion and finally decided to desert and return home to High Rock? Maybe you were stationed in or near Skyrim, and wishing to avoid entering the Empire's heartlands, you planned to make your way through Skyrim ... alas, you got (accidentally?) caught and were brought to Helgen with a few Stormcloaks.

That could also help you to decide whether to support the Empire or the Stormcloaks in Skyrim ...

And should you be a bit unsure as to how an Arcane Archer might fit in, that could be a special variant of Legion Battlemage. Just as an example.


Hand of Sotha

Thank you for the link and the tips! However, I'm now toying with a slightly different take on the Breton character: a Breton shaman archer.

I've read a bit about the Forsworn, and as I understand it, they are Bretons. So it wouldn't be too far-fetched to roleplay a Breton as an outcast Forsworn shaman, correct? I could concentrate on elemental summoning and use the storm shout as well as a bow enchanted with elemental damage. Maybe restoration as well.

Only thing left to do is think of a reason for why he was cast out. Maybe his gentle spirit and pursuit of peace with the Nord didn't sit well with the other Forsworn? Or maybe he just betrayed the Markarth for profit?

I thought I understood most of the lore but I really don't get the forsworn thing. If they were there before Nords landed in Skyrim how did they descend from Nords?

They were Bretons, who fought with the Nord over western Skyrim until they arrived at a peaceful agreement. Then the Bretons and Nord intermingled, creating the Forsworn. When Ulfric forced them out of their ancestral home, they became the vicious bandits you see in-game.

What you have to remember is most the NPCs have no idea about most of this stuff either and what they do know is usually written in books. The only people really still alive from say the oblivion crisis are either elves, vampires or gods and so not many people really know the true events of what occurred during the oblivion crisis or how much of a lie it is when the Thalmor claim they saved the elves during the oblivion crisis. Certainly the Thalmor did not solve the oblivion crisis, that was done by the Empire and so without the Empire solving the crisis the Thalmor could not have withstood it, but how much further on from that is a lie, isn't really known.


People don't stick to regions religiously, think of it more as just the city, while Nords inhabit most of Skyrim they do not inhabit all of it and they're not the only inhabitants, Markarth was primarily a Breton town/city (note that Markarth is close to high rock) in an area where Nords didn't really pay much interest until after the Bretons moved into the area and then they forced them (the mainly breton populous) out of their own city. It's the same reason why in Oblivion Nords tended to live more in Bruma; Khajiits and Argonians more in Bravil and Layawiin; and Dark Elves in Cheydinhal due to those cities being the closest to each of the related racial provinces. This can also be seen in Skyrim where Dark elves again live more in Riften and Windhelm which are close to the borders of Marrowind.

The forsworn are bitter like the Falmer at their treatment by the other races and being forced from their ancestral home. The forsworn however unlike the falmer allied themselves with the Hagraven's which gives the forsworn a massive advantage over the nords in Markarth, I wouldn't be surprised if by the next game if Markarth eventually falls to the Forsworn because of their hagraven allies creating the briarhearts. The forsworn are not entirely breton but are almost entirely exclusively human, with the exception of their hagraven allies.

You could just go read up on the lore at the USEP or Wikia website. Or, you could start you charater as a dumb hunter / poacher sort and read books found in game while growing the chaacter into your concept.

Frequent the lore section of the TES forums, I hang out there often myself. Read ingame books, though there's a lot (a ridiculious amount) of lore not found ingame. Talk to NPCs and ask around (a lot of the dialogue options are quite obviously designed for new players anyway - 'who is stendarr', 'who is talos', etc). And, lastly, don't be a stranger - find lore-savvy people on the forums and ask specific questions. For example, I know a lot about TES lore, so if there's anything in particular you'd like to ask me, go ahead, either in the forums or via PMs.

I would say that Bretons would tend to side with the Empire, seeing as an independent Skyrim has had a history of invading High Rock (the Breton province) and that the courts of the kings and princes of High Rock seem intertwined with Imperial governance. I'd hazard that the average Breton would not get along very well with the average Nord, because of Nordic mistrust of magic (which is centric to Breton society) as well as their troubled history of invasions (whilst indepedent).

I think I know where I am getting confused. I was reading the pages on each at UESP..


which made me question..


which made me look up..

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Nedic

Which made me head sore so I gave up.

fkin True. That's why once I forced myself to read the whole TES history, the descriptions of important heroes/characters/gods even holidays!
Since then the games' and quests' stories feel 1000 times more epic and immersive! Take your time, http://www.imperial-library.info/ is your friend!

Take the time and peruse http://www.imperial-library.info/
You may then wish to visit the http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/forum/16-elder-scrolls-lore/

After which reading the books in-game, some quite specific to TES5, is another good idea.
You will soon see a picture develop. The lore of TES is one of its draws for me. The history is key, imo.
Hope that helps

The best way to learn the lore is the in-game books; you can find all of them online at http://www.imperial-library.info/, or just read them in-game. Most of them are carried over from game to game, so you're not missing a lot if you just read the books in Skyrim. The http://uesp.net/wiki/Main_Page (Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages, an ES wiki) also has http://uesp.net/wiki/Lore. Just keep in mind that, as it is a wiki, not everything there is totally accurate; it's all done by fans. Blessings of Julianos to you.

However, if you just want to know enough to RP, you don't need to know all that much. Just skimming the wiki page for your chosen http://uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Races should be enough.

I'm struggling with this too haha... does anyone (especially if you're a loremaster) have any ideas for a Redguard roleplay? What would be their ideas, concerns, beliefs, etc?

Hate the Thalmor, hate the Empire, proud of Hammerfell, love ships and the sea,skillfull with one handed blades, and generally a good guy.

That's the current average Redguard.

http://uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Redguard They're very martial. In their homeland of Yokuda, which is known for having the best warriors in the world, all able-bodied Redguards have combat training. Many of them enjoy danger; even traditional Redguard hobbies tend to include dangerous things like snake charming. They also have a Nord-like prejudice against magic.

Since Skyrim isn't really a sandbox I don't even get the roleplayer aspect to it, being its mostly static and the quest outcomes are all basically the same no matter what race you use.

If you could create your own village or bandit hide out that would be different.